The Spellchasers trilogy now contains three books! (Maybe I’ve been misleading everyone by calling it a trilogy up til now, when there was only one book, then only two books?)
But now there are definitely three books, because I stood on stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Saturday, to read from and chat about The Witch’s Guide to Magical Combat, the third book in the Spellchasers trilogy, then I signed quite a few shiny blue books in the signing tent afterwards.
So, the third book is out there. Young readers have started to read Molly’s last adventure. (And Beth, Innes, Atacama and the toad’s last adventure…) Which is incredibly exciting, for me anyway!
Does that mean The Witch’s Guide to Magical Combat has been published? No, not quite yet. This book has three birthdays. It was launched at the Edinburgh Book Festival at the weekend, so there are copies in the kids’ book tent in Charlotte Square right now. The official publication day is this Thursday (17th August) so it will be available in real bookshops with solid walls from the end of this week. And there will be a launch party, for my family and friends to nibble crisps while I talk about how I wrote the book, at the start of September. Then the book will definitely be out there and available!
It was an amazing experience, holding all three books up, and talking about the whole story all at once. It felt like reaching the end of my journey with Molly and the rest of the Spellchasers team.
It wasn’t easy though. I’ve realised that discussing a trilogy without giving away spoilers is very tricky. Some of the questions asked by audience members who’d read The Beginners’ Guide to Curses and The Shapeshifter’s Guide to Running Away were very specific, so I tied myself in knots not to give too much away to people who hadn’t read that far yet. The one about the toad’s back story and the one about Molly’s changing relationship with her curse were particularly hard to answer honestly without ruining the story!
But despite having to dance round spoilers, I had fun! It was wonderful to share a tent with so many adventure fans, and with all their imaginative ideas and knowledgeable questions. 
The signing queue was great too. It was quite long, but everyone was very patient and cheerful. I dedicated lots of books to keen Atacama and Beth fans, so clearly writing about big black cats with riddles and trees with attitude was a good plan! I also spoke to lots of kids who are already writing their own stories, so perhaps I’ll be enjoying their events at the Edinburgh Book Festival in a few years’ time…
So, now that the trilogy is complete, it’s time I made a tough decision. What story will I write next?
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